Numerous types of apparatus for washing automobiles are known. Most are intended for commercial usage such as car wash facilities where customers pay fees to have their cars washed by various machines.
Manufacturers of commercial car wash equipment are generally concerned with bringing profitability to their customers. Thus, commercial car wash equipment is typically focused on speed, cost of operation, and cleaning effectiveness. As a result, commercial car wash machines usually require significant liquid flow and pressure to achieve their objectives of speed and efficient cleaning. They also typically include large pumps and motors and other sophisticated mechanisms, with a large number of nozzles working simultaneously, thereby requiring significant space.
Car washing equipment intended for personal or home usage has been envisioned. Such personal washing equipment typically tries to mimic what is done in commercial installations and, by doing so, fails to take into account that these commercial installations are cleaning rapidly and efficiently because they rely on an important water flow supply, industrial electrical power, and a lot of space. Attempts at personal car washing equipment have thus not succeeded to bring effective cleaning with resources normally available in a residential environment (e.g., liquid flow and pressure, electrical power, and space).
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved vehicle washing apparatus that can be used as an alternative to large and sophisticated equipment used in commercial car wash installations, and that is particularly suited for residential or other environments where resources are limited.